Device for applying liquid to sheets or webs



1954 R. G. OLDEN DEVICE FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO SHEETS OR WEBS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 29, 1950 Jan. 12, 1954 OLDEN 2,665,660

DEVICE FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO SHEETS 0R WEBS Filed June 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR jglqcr 6: 01

Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO SHEETS OR WEBS Application June 29, 1950, Serial No. 171,195

This invention bears on moistening or wetting for a sheet or web, namely, but not exclusively, on the aspect of this subject as it concerns applying liquids to a sheet or web in a facsimile recorder.

In a chemical or similar recorder, it is necessary to wet or moisten the web before the printing operation occurs. It is essential that liquid be spread evenly across the whole width of a moving sheet of paper. Previously, tanks or troughs were used in facsimile, in photography, and allied fields to moisten or wet a sheet of recording or photographic paper. This required that the trough or tank be thoroughly cleaned before each run because of possible collection of precipitates in the tank or trough. This is particularly true where a solution or mixture is made up in advance and is present in a large quantity in a tank or trough. The components or parts of solutions or mixtures of this type may keep indefinitely but may deteriorate after form ing or mixing.

In accordance with the present invention, a capillary self-cleaning moistening or wetting device is provided which spreads liquid evenly across the whole width of a moving web or sheet without the use of tanks or troughs in facsimile, in photography, and allied fields. Several sources of liquid may be drawn from simultaneously to provide for mixing at the surface of the web to eliminate the need for storing or maintaining a body of a ready-mixed solution or mixture.

The principal object is to provide an effective moistening or wetting device for the direct application of one or more component liquids to a sheet or web.

A further object of the invention is to provide a moistening or wetting device comprising two non-absorbent closely fitting elements between which the sheet or web is drawn together with means for applying one or more component liquids at or near the closely adjacent parts of the elements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide for mixing two components of a liquid at the point of application of the component liquids to a moving sheet or web.

Other objects will be seen by reading this specification which refers to the drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view in front elevation of one em 4 Claims. (Cl. 118-122) 1 and illustrates schematically the invention as embodied in a facsimile recorder, the section being taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. Elv is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing another embodiment of the device;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is afragmentary showing of one of the web guiding devices of Fig. 2.

Referring for the present to Fig. 2 of the drawings, there is shown, by way of example, a part of a recorder for facsimile signals. This recorder may be of the character shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,215,806 granted to Charles J. Young on September 24, 1940. The recorder comprises a recording drum l2, provided with a helical electrode 14 mounted on its periphery which cooperates with a second electrode in the form of a printer bar it. The holder for the printer bar is indicated at IB and numeral I 9 indicates a connection to an electrical signal source. The shaft 22 of the drum I2 is grounded as shown to complete the circuit for signal currents.

The record sheet or paper web 26, which is threaded between the printer bar It and the helix I4, is drawn through the recording zone by suitable means (not shown). The drum and paper feed means may be driven in. a coordinated manner by suitable. means (not shown). Patent No. 2,215,806 referred to above shows such means as well as paper drive means. Synchronizing and phasing signals may be generated and transmitted as. described in. U. S. Patent No. 2,326,743. granted to Maurice Artzt on August 17, 1943, when desirableor necessary.

The web. 26 is fed from a supply roll 28 and passes over an idler roller 31. Reference character 33 indicates the moistening or wetting device of the invention in its entirety. After passing from the wetting device 33, the web 26 passes under a second idler roller 35 and over a roller 38 which guides the web with respect to the printing electrodes. The roller 38 may serve as a preheater for heating the web and drying out excess moistlu'e.

The: wetting or moistening device 33 will now be described in detail. It comprises plate 41 of glass or other suitable impervious material. A glass rod 43 is bent so that it conforms closely to the shape of the. plate M. The. plate with the rod and the. web 7.6 may be regarded, in some respects, as a tray along which liq id is dis tributed uniformly by capillary action. In Fig. 1 the ends of the plate 4| are inclined at 44 and 46. The rod 43, as shown in Fig. 1, conforms to the upper surface configuration of the plate 4| by a bar 56. This bar is secured to the recorder side plates BI and 62 by a suitable fastening means such as screws 63 and 64.

The upturned ends 49 and 5| of the bar 43 are inserted into holes 66 in a holder or handle member 69. This handle member is of liquid impervious material such as Bakelite and it is slidably received at its ends in grooves IZand I3 in the side plates 6| and 62. The bar 43 maybe separated from the plate 4| by lifting the handle member 69 until it is disengaged from the grooves I2 and T3. 1

Hose connections SI and 82 are provided for drip nozzles 83 and 34. A funnel-shaped piece 9E is secured to the handle member 69 and is provided with a projecting tongue 94. Two liquid components delivered'from the nozzles 83 and 84 combine and mix in the funnel 9| and drop off the elongated tongue 94 onto the web 29 next to the rod 43. The underside of the rod forms with the web 26 a capillary space 96'along which the liquid v spreads rapidly. Since, as Fig. 1 shows, the plate 4| and the rod 43 are in contact between the edges'of the web 25, the liquid spreads, by capillary action, up the inclined side of the plate 4| and seeps under the web. According to Fig. 2, the web 26 and the plate 4| form also a capillary space 98 along which the liquid spreads quickly from the two ends toward the middle.

The angle which the web 26 coming from the roller 3| forms with the plate 4| is too great for capillary action. Therefore, only a very small wedge of liquid stands under the web 29 on one side. The plate 4| is or may be slightly inclined toward the roller 36 so that the liquid which is carried by the web near the edge of the plate 4| would run back toward the rod 43 instead of in the other direction, where it might run off the plate 4|. Since glass has a smaller angle of contact than most metals and plastics, glass is particularly suitable for use in the device 44. Mica is also suitable. The roller 36 is or may have tapered ends as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5 by the reduced end lill. The edges of the wetted web cling to the cones inside the ends |0I Figs. 3 and 4 show a modified arrangement employing a fiat plate I04 contacted by a rod I06. This rod is straight so that it conforms along a line to the plate I04. The plate I04 may be supported in a recorder in any suitable manner, for example, as shown in Fig. 1. The rod I06 is provided with upturned ends I08 and IE9 which are secured in hole III in a handle member 4. The handle member may be carried by the recorder in the manner shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. A sheet or plate I I6 of suitable material such as methyl methacrylate is secured by a, screw H8 to the handle member ||4. A filler piece ||9 spaces the plate IIB from the handle piece so that the endsof pieces of hose I2 I'and I22 may be clamped into position. The plate I 5 has a depending tongue shaped tip I24 from which liquid supplied by the hoses. |2 and I22 drips. As shown in Fig. 4, the paper web I28 moves toward the right in the passage through the wetting device.

What is claimed is:

1. In a recorder, means for moistening a sheet or web comprising a liquid impervious member having a trough-shaped surface, a liquid impervious rod conforming in shape along a line of contact to said trough-shaped surface, means to apply a liquid adjacent to the line of contact between said member and said rod, and means to pass a record receiving web between said surface and said rod, such that said web forms an angle with respect to said first-named liquid impervious member at said line of contact, whereby said liquid is adapted to form a capillary puddle between said member and said web.

'2. In a recorder, means for moistening a sheet or web comprising a liquid impervious member having a flat upwardly exposed surface, a liquid impervious rod conforming in shape along a line of contact to said surface, means to apply a plurality of liquids in small quantities adjacent to the line of contact between said member and said rod, and means to pass a record receiving web between said surface and said rod, said web describin an angle with respect to said flat surface at said line of contact, whereby to form a capillary space between said surface and the bottom surface of said web.

3. Web moistening apparatus which comprises: a liquid impervious plate member; a liquid impervious rod member conforming in shape to said plate along a line; said plate and said rod being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a web to be drawn therebetween; and means for passing a web between said members such that said web forms an angle with said plate at said line of contact of such magnitude as to permit capillary flow of a liquid deposited upon said web at said line of contact.

4. Web moistening apparatus which comprises: a liquid impervious plate member; a liquid impervious rod member conforming to said plate along a line and spaced from said plate a distance such as to accommodate a web substantially tightly; means for depositing a liquid on said web adjacent said line of contact, and means for passing said web between said rod and plate such that said web and said rod define a capillary space, said web being adapted to define a smaller angle with respect to said plate at one side of said line than on the other side of said line.

ROGER G. OLDEN.

I References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain June 20, 1935 

